Hasan Minhaj pokes fun at Saudi Netflix ban

Comedian breaks silence after video streaming service blocked episode of his show Patriot Act for Saudi audiences.

According
to Netcrunch,
Netflix pulled an episode of “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” from its
streaming service in Saudi Arabia after receiving a complaint from the kingdom.
The removal was first reported by the Financial Times.

The
episode, titled “Saudi Arabia,” centered around the killing of journalist Jamal
Khashoggi and criticizes Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and
Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. The Crown Prince has been implicated by the
Central Intelligence Agency and Turkish officials in the planning of
Khashoggi’s murder.

At
the beginning of the episode, Minhaj, a Muslim-American whose show mixes
political and cultural commentary with comedy, says “just a few months ago,
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, AKA ‘MBS,’ was hailed as the reformer the
Arab world needs, but the revelation of Khashoggi’s killing has shattered that
image. It blows my mind it took the killing of a Washington Post journalist for
everyone to go ‘oh, I guess he’s really not a reformer’ and meanwhile, every
Muslim person you know was like ‘no shit, he’s the Crown Prince of Saudi
Arabia. So now would be a good time for us to reassess our relationship with
Saudi Arabia.”

He
also called on tech companies to stop taking money from the kingdom, an
investor in Uber and the SoftBank Vision Fund (among others).

Netflix
told the Financial Times that it removed the episode from Saudi Arabia last
week after receiving a request from the country’s Communications and
Information Technology Commission that said it allegedly violated Saudi
Arabia’s anti-cyber crime law.

Netflix
said the commission cited Article 6 of the law, which states that “production, preparation,
transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious
values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or
computers” is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine not
exceeding SR3m ($800,000).” While ostensibly designed to protect internet users
from cybercrimes, the Freedom House said in a 2016 report that the law contains
clauses limiting freedom of expression.

“We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request – and to comply with local law,” Netflix told the Financial Times. The newspaper noted that “Saudi Arabia” is available on the “Patriot Act’s” YouTube channel, where it is viewable by users in Saudi Arabia.

Hasan Minhaj has finally
responded to Netflix’s decision to ban an episode of his show, the Patriot Act,
in Saudi Arabia after a legal request from the Kingdom. In a post on Twitter on
Wednesday, the former Daily Show correspondent joked that the ban would be
counterproductive.

“Clearly, the best way to
stop people from watching something is to ban it, make it trend online, and
then leave it up on YouTube,” Minhaj wrote, adding: “Let’s not forget
that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is happening in Yemen right
now.”

Sure, this probably may have
spiced things up a bit but that’s just how Hasan Minhaj works and is known for.

In
a statement to Rolling Stone, Netflix said: “We strongly support artistic
freedom and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a
valid legal request — and to comply with local law.”

During the episode which was
banned in Saudi, Minhaj provided a quick overview of the Khashoggi killing,
which the Saudi government initially denied before confessing to the
journalist’s death by saying it was “an accident after a fistfight.”
“This is the most unbelievable cover story since
Blake Shelton won Sexiest Man Alive. Are you kidding me? He’s the fourth
sexiest judge on The Voice,” Minhaj said, pinning Khashoggi’s death firmly bin
Salman’s regime.

Mary Elbert is a wordsmith extraordinaire. Originally from the USA, is an author and blogger with encounter composing on numerous points including Technology, food, Marketing/Advertising and that's only the tip of the iceberg. She is right now written work for data innovation.